Recovery Day
60-90 minutes of restorative activity - mobility, stretching, active recovery, yoga or other low intensity (non-crossfit) activity.Today I wish I wasn't a coach. Today I wish I was a creative writer, a journalist, a professional writer or even a screenwriter. Someone that could do justice to the feelings I have and put them into words. But I am just a coach, a jock with a blog. To say I am proud, to say that I care about my Team, Becca, Bubba, Big Bri, Jerry, my coaches, and the entire CFNE community is such an understatement and doesn't even begin to express the depth of my feelings towards these people, the week at the Games or the previous year. I know I can't begin to do them justice, but I will do what I can...

Derek "The Off-The-Field Leader"
You are the only athlete in the world that has competed in every CrossFit Games as a member of an Affiliate team, and your experience is respected and your advice is credible and helpful.
You are the role model we all strive to be. Caring and thoughtful, but determined and relentless. You set the tone; leading with words and actions. Your commitment, your dedication and the sacrifices you have made over the past five years are vast and obvious. I am proud to have you as a member of my team, but even more proud to call you a friend.

Montoya "The Silent Assassin"
Your skills are second to none and you can hang with the best in the world when it comes to being a freak on a pull up bar or flipping your body over objects. You are smart, cunning, have a killer instinct and are crazy enough to kill yourself for your teammates. You are poised under pressure and a true "game-day" athlete.

James "The Field General"
This weekend it was your ship and you captained it like a champion. Your presence and attitude on the field set the tone, gave direction, and lead our team to the podium. You were confident, clear and inspiring. The test we faced this year was about working together and staying together and it wouldn't have happened without your leadership. Your ability to expect and overcome adversity allowed your teammates to stay confident and on task. You are the fittest member of our team, but it was your leadership that stood out the most.

Bethany "The Hammer"
You are an incredible teammate; strong, determined, capable and willing to work for everything. It takes a special breed of athlete to have the ability and commitment to reach the highest level, and you have now done it in three different disciplines; Olympic Bobsled, World Championship Hammer Throw and Silver Medal at the CrossFit Games. Yet you are humble enough to willingly expose and work on any weakness. You are one of the most 'coachable' athletes I have ever worked with and a true joy to have as a member of the Team.

Rachel "The Spark Plug"
We talk a lot about the intangibles that it takes to compete at the highest level. Poise, confidence, self awareness, humility, humor, determination, toughness and having solid core values. You are a rock (yes, physically you look like a rock), but mentally you as solid as they come. Your skills and strength are on par with the Elite CrossFitters in the world, but its your mental approach, your comradery, and your friendship that make you such a valuable member to our team.

Heather "My Girl"
There isn't another person in the world with the same passion, creativity, dedication or that I love more. You understand everything it takes to excel in this sport both as an individual and on a team. You are keenly aware of what it going on, what is important, and how to do things the right way. Your athletic ability and opinions are respected by me, the rest of the team and the entire CrossFit world. A coach isn't supposed to have favorites, but you are mine. You are my everything. You make me a better coach and a better person. Love you.

Becca "The SoCal Girl"
You are a warrior. I wish I could put into words how much I enjoyed coaching you this year and this past weekend. You are an amazing athlete and watching you smile after the unbroken handstand walk was the highlight of my weekend. I only wish we could train together all year long.
I know you are unsatisfied with your finish this year and that only serves as confirmation of the athlete that you are. I am confident that I learned as much from you this weekend as you did from me. I am incredibly excited about this year.

Brian "Big Bri"
You were my first personal training client ever, and I can still remember our first meeting and training session. Your dedication, loyalty, and the respect others have for you is unparalleled. You have seen me grow as a coach, CFNE grow as a community and yourself grow as an athletes and competitor. You are the true work horse. No one has more grit or determination. Congrats on another amazing Games.

Bubba "Bubba"
I believe you have grown more as an athlete this year than any year since we started training together five years ago. You are more coachable, open-minded, move better and have worked harder on your weaknesses. You are becoming a complete athlete and coaching you has been more and more rewarding. I believe you have incredible potential to take a spot on the podium next year.

Jerry "The Fireman"
Pure guts and determination. You have a terrific mental approach to competing; calculated yet relaxed. You continue to surprise and inspire us with your ability, performances, approach and commitment.

Mom - You can't give your mom a nickname.
Your selflessness knows no limits. You gave up an entire week, so that Heather and I could focus. You never ask for anything in return, and you make it seem like you enjoy every second of it. I know how much you do for me, for us and everyone. Thank you a million times over for being the mother you are and making me the man I am.
Happy Birthday. I love you.The CFNE Coaches "Ali, Geoff, Max, Doole, Ashley, Harry"
We could not have accomplished what we did this year without you. This podium finish is as much yours as anyone else on the team. Your dedication and commitment to pursuing excellence in every form of your work, training and live permeates the entire CFNE community and makes us all better.

The CFNE Community "Everyone"
Your support during the Games and throughout the year means more than you can imagine. The "Red Sea" at Regionals, the pep-rally breakfast before our flight to Cali, the crew that traveled to the Games, those that send us inspiring messages and the welcome home "Congrats" banner all mean SO MUCH to me and the entire team. Thank you for being so supportive and amazing. Because of you, I have the best job in the world at the best Affiliate in the world.

if you can't get at least 4 reps on all sets, scale the load.2. Clean
3 x Max Reps with 225, Tngif you can't get at least 4 reps on all sets, scale the load.3. Jerk
3 x Max Reps with 225, Tngif you can't get at least 4 reps on all sets, scale the load.4. Gymnastic Benchmark
1 set of max unbroken reps of TTB5. Metcon
"AMRAP 15 Diane"
Complete 21-15-9-21-15-9...as many times as possible in 15 minutes.
Deads, 225/155
HSPU

"To stay out of the 'pain cave,' you just need to do something enough so that you feel comfortable with it. It will still hurt—especially if somebody's pushing you—that's when you just need to force yourself to pick the weight back up."

7 x 3-Pos. Halting Snatch Pulls, Slowly pull from the ground pausing for a full 2 seconds at each position before jumping and shrugging with straight arms.. Focus on the positioning and bar path. The three positions are (1) one inch off the floor, (2) Just above knee, and (3) Pockets.

3. Gymnastic Benchmark
Max Deficit Parallette HSPU - these are strict HSPU. Start with a stack of 10# plates and an abmat between the parallettes. Complete one rep and then take away a plate until you are as low as possible. If you can go to the floor, complete as many reps as possible. 4. Metcon
10.9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1 of:
C2B Pull ups
Box Jumps, 30/24"
25 Double unders after every round.

1. Speed Work
a. 4 x flying 40's - each run is actually 80 yards. start by running 20 yards, when you hit the 20-yard mark sprint 40 yards as fast as possible, then slow to a good run for the final 20 yards.

b. 2 x 200m, rest as needed.2. Pulls
5 x 5 Good Mornings, across - use a safety squat bar if you have one. if you don't have one - its a good purchase. we will be using it in this program.

3. Metcon
"Open 12.3"
AMRAP 18:
15 BJ, 24/20
12 S2O, 115/75
9 TTB

2014 OPEN ATHLETES

1. Metcon
"Open 12.3"
AMRAP 18:
15 BJ, 24/20
12 S2O, 115/75
9 TTB

2. Skills
5 sets of unbroken C2B at 60% or max effort. Use June 28th as a reference for your max C2B. If you did 20 reps on June 28th, today you will be doing 5 x 12 unbroken. This is not for time so rest as needed between sets. If you didn't do the max test on June 28th, do it today.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

I stole this from Daniel Coyle, author of "The Talent Code." If you haven't read his book, it's a must. I posted his full article, "The Learning Quotient" on the articles page.

Your "Learning Quotient" is a quantitative measure of your work ethic, character, relentlessness, determination, humbleness and willingness to learn. It determines a large part of your success as athlete. As a coach, I would rather have an athlete with moderate talent and a high LQ, than the opposite.

Here’s how to find your LQ. Rank yourself from 0 - 10 in each category (0 for strongly disagree; 10 for strongly agree). Be honest and assess yourself right now. Not where you were in high school or where you will be in three months. No one will know your score except you (unless you post to comments). We will re-take this test in a few months and see if we've improved.

1. You work on your skills for an hour or more every day. - that is skills, not training, but practicing movements.

2. You are focused on the process, not the immediate results, but long-term outcomes. - do you freak out over bad days, or recognize that the stimulus of the training is the important thing not the time on the clock or missed PR's?

3. You have strong relationships with mentors/coaches, and use them as models and guidance. - do you have someone you can trust and believe in completely. Do they make you better? do they believe in you as an athlete and person? Do you make them a better coach?

4. You are keenly aware of how much you do not know, and the gap between your present abilities and your longterm goals. the smarter you become the more you realize you don't know.

5. You can accurately and precisely describe the skills you want to build. - the exact numbers and times you want to hit?

6. You think about improving your skills all the time. - and you do so with a positive mindset. not stressing, worrying or over-thinking your training, but thinking about your training clearly, confidently and positively.

7. You approach your daily training with enthusiasm. - training at this level is hard work. really hard work. if you don't LOVE it - you won't last.

8. You balance repetition/volume with innovation/improvement. - you need to get in the volume, but you not at the expense of moving better. Efficiency and better movement is as important as strength and a bigger engine. Think threshold training.

Odd: 3 Pos. Squat Clean, 50% of 1RM, Pause for a full 2 seconds from each position; (1) from mid thigh, (2) at the knee, (3) mid-shin but off the ground.

Even: 3 Muscle ups

"The mind is everything. Every thought you create manifests itself in the real world; if you didn't achieve something you strove for - you simply didn't believe in it enough."
- Mario Novak, Pro Hockey Player.

2014 REGIONAL ATHLETES1. Snatch
3x1, heavy
2x2, moderate- Be sure to read about the differences between "heavy" and "moderate" lifts in the FAQs.If you are going to follow the program - follow the program. I see people posting "new pr!" on heavy days. That is not a heavy lift - it's a max. If it feels good - its suppose to feel good. Save the Max lifts for Max days.

2. Snatch
3x1, heavy
2x2, moderate- Be sure to read about the differences between "heavy" and "moderate" lifts in the FAQs.If you are going to follow the program - follow the program. I see people posting "new pr!" on heavy days. That is not a heavy lift - it's a max. If it feels good - its suppose to feel good. Save the Max lifts for Max days. 3. Oly Pause Squats
8x3 Back Squat, 5 second pause at rock bottom